Listening to God's Word

Over the past year I attempted to try a new way of reading through the Bible.  I picked up "The Bible Experience" which is an audio Bible.  I have never "listened" to the Bible.  But I have to admit is was a very cool way to go through God's Word.  This wasn't your typical audio Bible.  You can purchase it as a set of CD's or you can get the mp3 version.  The production value of this Bible is outstanding.  It features a huge African-American cast including Denzel Washington, Cuba Gooding Jr., Angela Bassett, Samuel L. Jackson, Kirk Franklin, and T. D. Jakes along with many, many others.  This is not just your average "here is a person reading through the Bible" audio Bible.  This is acted out with passion before the microphones.  Complementary sound effects and music are added which make the text come alive with imagination.  This was definitely a project that was done in love, care and passion.  And I loved listening to the Bible especially while driving my car to work or traveling to meetings.  This is also a great resource to use within the church to help make the Bible come alive with imagination. 

     The only time I had a hard time with this audio Bible was when the voice of Samuel L. Jackson came on as the voice of God.  I have no problem with him personally.  It's just that every time I heard him speaking like God I could not get his "Pulp Fiction" character Jules Winnfield quoting Ezekiel 25:17 with such rage out of my mind!  So imagining God sporting the Jules Winnfield look always put a smirk on my face.  I just had a hard time not associating certain voices of famous people with some of the characters they have played in films that I so easily identify them with when I hear them.  With that in mind, I highly recommend this audio Bible.  I can't imagine that there are any other Audio Bibles out there of this caliber and quality.  

And also, let this production be a reminder for any of us who claim to be Christians never, never, never to stereotype "Hollywood" negatively.  We have a lot of brothers and sisters in Christ who are involved in the entertainment business and they deserve our support and prayers.